Let’s face it, without a good night’s sleep on lyocell bedding, you really aren’t yourself the following day. Mood swings, foggy head, inability to focus, and just feeling drained can suck the goodness out of any day.
If you’re facing restless or even sleepless nights and you sleep better in your resort-quality hammock than you do in your bed, it’s past time to do something about it. While there are plenty of “best practices” as far as helping you fall asleep faster and staying asleep, we wanted to discuss a few things that you should invest in to ensure that you get as much quality sleep as possible.
The Bed
This one should be a given. If you want better quality sleep, it all starts with the mattress. While you may be tempted to focus more on the price as opposed to the support and comfort a new bed offers, quality counts when it comes to your mattress.
Remember the saying, “you get what you pay for”? When it comes to buying a cheap bed, it can cost you a lot more in the long run. The lack of proper support and comfort will keep you from sleeping well, and the mattress isn’t likely to hold up as long as a quality one. This means you’ll probably have to get a new one a lot sooner, possibly costing you a lot more in the end.
Your Pillow
The Sleep Foundation says that you should replace your pillow every one to two years to help ensure that it is clean, free from allergens, and supports your head and neck properly. In other words, if you need an online psychic to figure out how long you’ve had your pillow, it’s time to get a new one.
As a pro tip, besides getting a quality pillow, if you want to get the best night’s sleep that you can, you should take the time to learn the proper way to sleep on a pillow.
A Blanket
You probably have a comforter and a couple of sheets, and while a new set is always nice, there’s a new product that you should consider investing in—a weighted blanket.
Designed to be heavier than normal blankets, they use deep pressure stimulation. The consensus is that weighted blankets induce calm feelings by using firm, controlled pressure and are believed to help with sleep in the same way that a tight swaddle helps newborns sleep soundly, whether they’re in the backseat on a road trip for a fall vacation or snuggled up in bed at home.
Blackout Curtains
While many people use regular curtains in the bedroom and throughout the house, you should consider changing out the bedroom ones for blackout curtains. The early morning sunlight sends a powerful message to your brain that it’s time to suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone, and can leave you tossing and turning as you try to go back to sleep while you still have time.
A cool, dark room is key to a sleep-friendly environment, and blackout curtains will keep the sunlight from signaling your body that it’s time to wake up before you’re ready. If this isn’t an option, try a comfortable eye mask.
Investing in ways to help ensure a higher quality of sleep is definitely a smart move. If you’re not able to do it all at once, start with new curtains, pick up a weighted blanket, and replace your pillow before saving up for a little while in order to get the best mattress that you can.